I am writing my first review to defend this movie and to make a point here....I am what you can call a movie fanatic, had a Netflix account since 2003 and probably watched about 4000 or so movies by now with Action genre being one of my favorites. One of my recent rules of thumb has become to look at both critic and user reviews before watching a movie and then make a decision whether its worth to watch one. Critics are definitely not the only gauge to use these days because I have watched so many good ones that had poor ratings on rotten tomatos for example. And this is definitely the case with Hunter Killer as well. Going into this movie with no expectations I must say I am pleasantly surprised. This movie will definitely not win any awards, but when it comes to delivering an unpredictable, somewhat realistic, edge of your seat action thriller, it delivers on all accounts. With so much CGI filled style over substance movies out there these days, it was a nice throwback to the classic 80's well done action flicks that we all loved growing up . Highly recommend, just dont expect too much and it will be worth it.
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ashamalov14 February 2019
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rufus_ma9 September 2019A very good action movie. I nearly passed it by because of the IMDb rating but so glad I didn't.
Since when did a script that stretches reality make it bad? Anyone seen Avengers...?!
Full of action, excitement, plot twists and yes a bit gung ho but so what.
Don't miss it if you like war/action movies. -
I_LV_Movies3 April 2019I don't usually write reviews, but after coming back home from watching a bore at the cinema we needed a pick me up movie, and this was it. If you liked Olympus has fallen , you will like this one.
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0U20 February 2020Not a deep plot, but entertaining and fun to watch at least once.
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revboose-781-83801427 November 2019Every time I watch this movie, I'm entertained, but I notice something else that bothers me slightly. Bullets killing people underwater. Non-active sonar giving 3-dimensional scans of what's outside. And the biggest one of all, transiting 2000 miles in a submarine in about 2 hours, with a rescue vehicle piggybacked on top!
Ignore those. They detract from the entertainment value.
Gerard Butler is a god at sea, consistently making the right calls because he doesn't have time to make wrong ones. Michael Nyquist, sick and near death, still presents himself as an expert submariner and, more, a commander of men. These are men being who they are because they have to be... so, yeah, everyone has but one dimension.
Everything is predictable, but you don't care. It looks good. It's made to sound good. It's all flash and dash and utterly unbelievable. But sometimes the point of watching something like this is not to be distracted by what is believable.
The point is to be entertained! -
austin-night7 December 2018Based off critic's reviews I assumed it was going to be garbage (like the last couple of Gerard Butler movies I didn't like - Geostorm and Den of Thieves.) Today was rainy and it was still in the cinema so I gave it a try. Hunter Killer is the best action movie I have seen at the theater since Mission Impossible - Fallout. No kidding. Not equally as good or well made as MI, but the best since MI.
Hunter Killer is an almost-great, suspenseful, fun, exciting, on-the-brink-of-war movie which is absolutely worth your time if you've even considered watching it but haven't yet. It was a 2 hour suspense film that kept me and the other few viewers in the theater (their enjoyment was audible) on the edge of our seats.
No spoilers here, but understand that the majority of the movie takes place underwater inside a submarine that is trying to evade detection and avoid torpedoes, and it is quite effective at drawing the viewer in for a fun ride. Go see it. Or wait for streaming. Either way you will probably enjoy it. -
claudio_carvalho24 February 2019When the USS Tampa Bay submarine that is navigating in Russian waters loses contact with the American base, Captain Joe Glass (Gerard Butler) is assigned to command the USS Arkansas submarine to investigate. They discover the USS Tampa Bay and a Russian submarine sunk with survivors inside. However they are attacked by another Russian submarine hidden under an iceberg but they explode the enemy. Then they rescue the survivors, including the Russian Captain Andropov (Michael Nyqvist). Meanwhile a commando led by Lieutenant Bill Beaman (Toby Stephens) is sent to observe a Russian base and they find that a coup d'état is in progress with the defense minister Dmitriy Durov (Mikhail Gorevoy) overthrowing the Russian President Nikolai Zakarin (Alexander Dyachenko). Now Beaman and Glass are assigned to try to rescue Zakarin to avoid a nuclear war, but the only chance to the USS Arkansas reach the Russian base waters is with the help of Captain Andropov. Will he collaborate with Glass?
"Hunter Killer" is an engaging and full of action film with a good story. The plot has moments of "Fail-Safe", with the risk of a nuclear war and the chest game to the American military to avoid the war. This film is also the farewell of Michael Nyqvist in his last work. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Fúria em Alto Mar" ("Rage in High-Sea") -
Leofwine_draca27 August 2019HUNTER KILLER is a serviceable addition to the submarine thriller genre of movie-making. It goes through the motions and delivers the goods in terms of action and suspense, although there's nothing here to make this particularly memorable or indeed for it to stand out from the crowd. The good news is that the story is involved enough for the two hour running time to never be a chore to sit through. Gerard Butler does his usual gruff stuff as the submarine captain and Gary Oldman shouts a bit as the top brass, but Toby Stephens brings most charm as the special forces leader. The action scenes and special effects generally work well despite the usual predominance of CGI effects. No classic, then, but it's a film which does its job.
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j-a-julian20 February 2020Well done ... or as we say with a Navy flag hoist ... Bravo Zulu.
This is really well done. I spent 24 years in the USN and am very familiar with submarine ops. OK, it's a little over the top but feasible. Highly recommended. -
Caleb_Everett14 March 2019I went into this film thinking it was going to be a Hunt For The Red October rip-off and it really didn't feel that way, but that's isn't necessarily a good thing.
Overall I thought the movie was pretty decent, it had moments of entertainment and then moments where I was scratching my head. First off, they never really give any backstory to Gerard Butler's character, we know for a fact that he didn't go to Annapolis. We also know that he has worked "every" job on a submarine and he makes it known that he can probably do the job better than most of them and that he was on the USS Wichita...which apparently was a bad thing. I mean wouldn't the U.S. military send a submarine with a crew that knew each other? Instead of finding a guy who is spending his free time hunting?
Aside from that, Gerard Butler does a pretty decent job, I'm not going to say that just because his intro was questionable that he shouldn't have been in it, they should have just come up with a better introduction for him.
On the sub-plot of the team that's on the ground...why did they send in a team that seemed like they were still in training? I understand that three of them are seasoned veterans, but this "Preventing World War III" type mission probably would have been sent to an already trained team. Not to a team that still is training a guy and who has never performed an operation of this nature. I could go on and on about that subplot, but I won't.
The positives of the film are that it was entertaining and definitely has tense moments, on a personal opinion I always appreciate the movies that can take two separate sides and create a bridge between them. The work of binding Butler and Nyqvist was definitely entertaining and I think that the movie actually resolves very nicely.
I would probably watch it again, I know I harped on a few points, but it really is an enjoyable movie if you can get past those. -
bobtrumpet23 October 2018Too Hollywood for my liking and completely unbelievable scenes. Why would the first words the Russian president say be in English?? Casting real Russians and having subtitles would have made this film far more convincing.
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davidvpcol14 February 2019Indeed this wasn't the classic American good guys vs Russian bad guys. This movie is a nice action thriller, in which good and bad guys aren't defined by a flag. Good acting, good direction, and overall, good knowledge of the military systems that were or could have been involved in the movie's scenario. Certainly is not my favorite submarine movie, but you will love this one, the best in the modern era. Is really satisfying. The only bad thing is that the movie is self-contained and there won't be a part II.
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brazil-4583915 December 2018Not U571- Not White House Down. Good action flick, surprisingly entertaining but not over the top. One of those movies that you know what you're getting going into, so I'm perplexed why there are so many butt hurt people expecting an academy nod type movie. Worth the watch.
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smith-c5722 October 2018Awful script that didn't make a lot of sense, dreadful acting from all involved, but special mention for Gary oldman who just shouts every cliched line, the whole thing is a mess, no surprises with the outcome you could see what was going to happen a mile away, a film to avoid
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deanhart6528 October 2022I love a submarine film, but won't lie, aside from 300, I am not a huge Gerard Butler fan. I have to say though, that I was very pleasantly surprised by both the film and Butler's performance. A film in the vain of The Hunt for Red October and Crimson Tide, this was a Cold War'esque film, with a more than reasonable plot, good cinematography and decent performances. Perhaps not as tense as Crimson Tide, which to be fair is a difficult film to compete with given the performances of Hackman and Washington, it was all the same a good watch. So for those who enjoy an good action film that includes a submarine, it's worth a viewing.
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rodges13 July 2023Got more than I expected from this action packed thriller. Tense scenes from beginning to end. Multifaceted plot that ties together reasonably. I'll watch anything with Gary Oldman in it but he is unfortunately not in as large a role as you'd believe as a top billed cast member. The acting of Gerard Butler is basically what you'd come to expect from him and he caries the film for the most part. I've seen a lot of comments knocking the realism of the film. I'm not in the Navy, so I can't speak to how all those sequences might play out. But for a movie that takes place in the ocean you would have thought you'd have seen at least one fish!
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toddg-473-28981810 September 2022HUNTER KILLER features Gerard Butler being promoted to captain a nuclear submarine despite not having the usual Annapolis pedigree. His character uses street smarts and out of the box thinking to try and avert a nuclear war with Russia, whose President has been kidnapped during a military coup.
A few flaws were a little annoying: First, bullets being shot in the water rapidly lose their velocity and would have far less chance of doing damage to the underwater frogmen than what was portrayed in this movie. Second, the XO (executive officer, second in command) on the American submarine was constantly questioning the orders of the captain, in front of many other crew members. This would never happen on a real submarine. Look up the exchange between Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington in 1995's CRIMSON TIDE for a far more realistic explanation of what happens in that situation.
Lastly, is seems like the script did no favors to the great Gary Oldman. Oldman can play any character extremely well, and he has done so over his many decades on film. But this script didn't allow his character much depth or introspection, only a hawkish military commander hell bent on war.
But in spite of the above criticisms, this was an enjoyable film and atypical story. -
abovethelaw-9547310 November 2021U. S. submarine commander Joe Glass is brought to attention about a secret Russian coup. To prevent WWIII he has to collect a group of navy seals and steer through enemy territory to rescue the kidnapped Russian president.
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Top_Dawg_Critic19 December 2018I'm guessing all the hate is from all the political nuts reading into a film who simply can't just stop to enjoy a movie that's meant to entertain. Then there's all the wannabe critics slamming a "typical cliched and predictable" film. I'd like to see those geniuses come up with something new... I'm pretty sure there's not much left in original concept films.
A submarine film has been long overdue, and this one was surprisingly very satisfying. It was well directed by novice Donovan Marsh. Newcomer writers Arne Schmidt and Jamie Moss did a fantastic job with the screenplay. Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman nailed their roles and the rest of the cast were also on point. At 122 mins length, the pacing was excellent with the non-stop action and suspense, that time flew by. The Visuals and SFX were outstanding.
My only beef with this film was the sound editing - just terrible. From scene to scene the dialogue was either fine, or overshadowed by the loud score so much, that I could barely understand what anyone was saying. A huge flaw for a production this grand.
Nevertheless, it's an 8.5/10 rounded up to 9 from me. Don't listen to the negative reviews, no film production this big and so well cast deserves 1's. It's well worth the watch. -
Fudge-321 October 2018Rogue military element kidnaps the Russian Premier and tries to start world war three. Special op' US forces are sent in to the rescue.
Dialogue and character setup is very contrived. Most of the time the actors make good on a ropey script. Parts of the movie have a rushed look, there are continuity errors and some of the green screen shots are very unpolished but mostly it's OK.
Good action, I particularly enjoyed the sub' vs sub' scenes. Not much threat or tension. There's lots of shooting and explosions. The on screen physical violence is moderate. Little in the way of bad language. No surprises.
It's like a movie that has been sitting on the shelf for thirty years and they finally released it. I kind 'a liked it. -
fritzlang28 October 2018Now leaving a theater near you is the poor attempt to remake Hunt for Red October. The problem is that it is directed from the man who gave us Spud and Spud 2. No, I don't remember hearing anything about those films either.
There is not an ounce of suspense or action in this film. Everything is cliche. The acting, script, photography and direction are all mediocre. Watchable, but nothing else.
Sam Fuller said that if you don't engage the audience in the first fifteen minutes, then you will lose them. Ten minutes into the film I wanted to leave the theater. And I got to see it for free.
The plot is convoluted and takes almost a full hour to fully explain itself. At that point, all hope was lost to find a coherently directed film.
I can't find anything to recommend. I give this a 2 - generously.
Watch at your own risk. -
deanocware20 April 2019As has been stated I do not understand why this movie is rated so low other than I suspect it is from people who are not into the whole submarine warfare drama. As a big fan of Crimson Tide and U-571 this movie really scratched an itch I have had for quite a while now. I thought the cinematography and action sequences especially the explosives were excellent. I also enjoyed the combination of the seal team mission with the drama playing out on the submarine. The only reason I am not reading the movie higher as I thought some of the casting was a little off. I had a hard time excepting Common as an admiral. He did not seem old enough to be an admiral and just seemed out of place the whole movie. I thought Gerard Butler did a decent job as the Captain of the Arkansas but I had a problem with him trying to cover up his Scottish accent. I also thought there were a few holes in the plot such as how they were going to get the sub back through the minefield even if everything went as planned. However none of it was significant enough to spoil the movie as a whole. The funny thing is something very similar to this almost happened when Boris Yeltsin was president of Russia. I could easily see the US having gotten involved in helping to defeat the coup attempt made against him.
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holma-6618219 January 2019I do not agree with the people that hates this movie! Typical American action/military film. I enjoyed it a lot!
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It holds your attention as it swaps between the submarine crew and the land forces, although there isn't much tension or suspense and it does get a bit silly towards the end. The mix of green screen, stock footage and live action scenes are a bit jarring and although the acting is ok, the characters don't have much depth to them.
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DjfunkmasterG21 July 2023After seeing a clip of the film on Youtube shorts I hunted this down and decided to give it a watch.
The film has it flaws but the action sequences keep you glued... WHat they pulled off on $40,000,000 is amazing and considering the cast put together the film did it's job of entertaining me for 2 hours...
Is it a Crimson Tide, U-571, or Hunt for Red October... Not by a long shot... It doesn't hold a candle to those films, but it still passed the time and I wasn't checking my phone.
I like Gerard Butler, and while most of his films are throwaways this one would definitely be a rewatch if I am channel surfing and I happen to come across it on one of the cable networks.
The performances by many of the cast are either overbearing (Gary Oldman) or underwhelming (Cardelini)... then there is emotionless (Butler) and just meandering (Common)
But it keeps the pace up very well and you even grow to like many of the Navy Seals characters... all in all it is a mindless popcorn flick that is getting a lot of hate and hey people have their opinions... not everyone will like everything and that is ok. My opinion is I enjoyed it. Would I buy the Blu-Ray for my collection, if I found it for $3.99 at Wal-Mart I probably would, but it would be just another film to add to the collection... I doubt it would ever get unsealed
Anyway, the opinion given is mine and other than the performances I noted above, the film also has some weak writing and it is a by the book popcorn actioner, however let's be honest this film wasn't produced to win Oscars.
Need to shut off brain, give it a watch...